Strength without strain..why you need to try the Pilates reformer!!

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Have you seen the Pilates reformer machine and said,” I wonder what is so great about that piece of fitness equipment that everybody raves about it?”

My simple answer: strength without strain!  The Pilates reformer is designed to help you move better without strain.  So many fitness fads involve pushing yourself to the extreme, seeing how quick you can be, how fast can you go, how much weight can you lift, often times before your body has progressed properly to that level.  The Pilates reformer will strengthen and balance your body more efficiently than any of these fads and you’ll do it without strain, without being miserable!!  It works for elite athletes and it works for couch potatoes who just want to feel a little less achy in their body.  It’s kind of amazing!    The reformer was designed to work with your body so that you can do movements that build strength in a very balanced way.  This means not only do you strengthen your muscles uniformly, you stretch muscles that need lengthened and you create balance in your body.

One of the first exercises we teach on the reformer is called footwork.  I often describe the movement to newbies as a fancy version of a leg press.  And by fancy I mean well designed to help you become aware of your alignment and whole body movement from your feet to the crown of your head.  Every “leg press variation” you do doesn’t just strengthen your legs in ideal alignment, it strengthens your core muscles, teaches your muscles how to activate to decompress and lengthen your spine and gives you a whole body movement experience.

Another of my favorite examples of strength without strain on the reformer is the exercise called long spine.  Most people could not possibly do this particular movement on their own without throwing their body up and possibly straining something in the process.  But when we put someones feet into the feet straps attached to the reformer, most clients are able to use the support from the equipment to figure out how to roll up through their back and back down again with control and precision and use the muscles they are supposed to use!!

This particular exercise is a client favorite because:

  1. It feels really amazing on your back and
  2. I think most people are just so proud of themselves that they can do it well and really feel their body getting stronger and more flexible every time they do it!!  Take a peak of this exercise in the video below:

Want to see the reformer in action?  Check out this video of some of our Rivercity Pilates staff working out on the reformer to get a birds eye view of the type of exercises you might do on the Pilates reformer!

 

Try out the reformer yourself by scheduling a complimentary private session or trying a complimentary Reformer group class!!

 

 

 

If your back is tight and achy…try a Pilates Tower class

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The Pilates Tower classes are some of our most popular classes for good reason.  The Pilates Tower classes give you an amazing all over body work out that leaves you feeling stretched, lengthening and more mobile in your spine.  The Pilates tower looks like it sounds.  It is a metal tower-like structure that has various springs attached to it as well as a wooden bar called the push through bar.

The tower’s various springs and structures are designed to support your body and give your body feedback during exercises.  What this means in plain English is that you can do movements that strengthen and stretch you body and specifically your back without straining!  One of my favorite examples of this is the Roll Down on the tower.  The springs of the roll down bar support you so that you can use your abdominal muscles to do a very controlled roll down to the mat and back up.  For many people this task would be impossible without the support of the equipment. And why would you want to do this exercise?  This exercise strengthens you core muscles and at the same time stretches the usually tight muscles in our back, leaving your back feeling amazing!! Check out the video below showing this exercise( I often call it the anti-sit up exercise!!)

Another favorite exercise of mine on the Tower is called the leg springs series.  Does the thought of lying on your back and holding your legs up in the air scare you?  Is it hard for you to straighten your legs in this type of position because your back and hamstrings are soo tight?  (picture..)

The leg springs have a strap that your foot rests in and they are designed to help you hold your legs up in space while you are lying on your back, without straining!!  Why is this important?  This position allows us a very effective way to strengthen our back and core muscles in a supported way and at the same time helps us create more flexibility in the backs of our legs.  When our core muscles get stronger and our muscles lengthen and stretch in a balanced way.. our body feels better and moves better on a daily basis.  Check out the video below where I talk about and show a few of the leg spring exercises.

If you are one of the many people who suffer from a chronically tight, achy back you will not be disappointed with a Pilates Tower class. We’re  guessing you’ll walk away wondering how an exercise class can be such an effective workout and leave your back and body feeling so amazing.  Most people find themselves asking,” Why did I wait so long to try that??”

Try a complimentary class today!!

 

How do you progress in Pilates?

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reformer-classA client was asking me today about how you progress when using the Pilates equipment.  She was examining the springs and asked me,” so does someone more advanced than me use a heavier spring? Is that how you make it more challenging?”

Unlike traditional weight training and fitness programs where you continue to challenge you body by increasing weight, increasing repetition and decreasing rest time…the Pilates method of exercise works just a little differently.

Our goals in Pilates are of course to become stronger and more flexible, but you could say that we are a little bit pickier in Pilates than traditional fitness programs.  Another important goal in Pilates is to develop the body uniformly.  What this means is that we are training the body as a whole and creating uniform, balanced strength in all your muscles.  We are training the body to learn to initiate movement from the center and move in a very efficient movement pattern.  From a training standpoint this means we don’t just want to push on a resistance we want to be able to recruit the correct muscles to push on a resistance so that the movement is precise, controlled and comes from our center.  To an untrained eye these subtleties don’t mean much.  But for the person doing the work it as an amazing difference.

Long story short….progression does not just happen from increasing the amount of strength needed to do a movement.  The body is continually challenged by asking it to “perform better”.  It is challenged by trying to execute movements with more and more control and precision each time and by doing more work from your core musculature and working in a more balanced way.

There are definitely times when we make a spring heavier to make an exercise more challenging, but more often than not we will make a spring lighter if we want to make an exercise more challenging.  By using a lighter spring the body has to do more work to hold itself in space and move with precision.   A heavier spring is usually more supportive, thus, you do not have to work as hard.